Colorcoded For Your Convenience
by Kokoro-Clef
Summary: In which Sollux is an ex-perscription drug abuser and Karkat needs to see a film. Humanstuck, Oneshot, Solkat, oh look they're roomates how cute.


When you first saw the commercial that changed your life, you were beyond excited. At the time, of course, you had no clue how important this particular advertisement was, or how it would shape your future; you simply overjoyed at the prospect of watching one of the great masterpieces of film in all its 3D glory.

Upon viewing said commercial, you immediately bolted to your computer to purchase a ticket to the event, and spent the next few days waiting in a state of suspended anticipation, trying to go about your day as normally as possible, trying to keep up your usual scowl over the grin that wanted to take its place.

Finally, the day printed on your ticket arrived, and you found yourself standing at the front of the line of those who had migrated to the local cinemaplex to see the film so grandly declared by the marquee of theater 2 above you, Titanic 3D.

As you tried to ignore the idiotic rambling of the mostly female crowd behind you, you turned away from the reflection of yourself mirrored by the movie poster across from you. You weren't inclined to gaze upon the pale skin, the light brown eyes, or the dark, messy hair you had unfortunately inherited, nor had you ever been.

You quickly checked your pockets for the hundredth time, finding your keys, your wallet, and the pair of 3D glasses the nervous teenager working the entrance had given you after you had spewed an expletive or two at him. Glancing over the red-and-blue lenses, you were reminded of your new roommate, a one Sollux Captor.

You had met at mutual friend's birthday party after hearing he was looking for someone to rent out the spare room in his loft. You had quickly agreed to pay half the rent in return for the room, being in a bit of a tight spot with your ex, and he had told you that he'd help you move in two days later, when you brought into the place what he called 'a shit ton of shitty movies' and 'enough rage to kill a bear'.

In the one month's time you'd spent with your new roomie, you'd seen very little of him. He seemed alright, albeit a bit distant and emotionless, but he hadn't yet bothered you, so you didn't mind. He spent most of his time in his room, surrounded by what he had proudly labeled as his 'pride and joy', a complex arrangement of external hard drives, processors, and monitors, all strung together by an immense tangle of mutlicolored wires. This left you to the home entertainment system he rarely used, the satellite box, and your finely tuned collection of movies. You only caught glimpses of his tall, thin figure if he actually emerged from his den to grab some food or leave the loft entirely, and the longest conversations you had with him were grocery-based.

You had been warned of some his tendencies by a friend of yours, incidentally an ex of his.

"Kar, this guy, he's…strange. He's got these issues, and unless you wanna be helpin' him with 'em, I'd advise stayin' away from him."

Eridan's words had echoed in your mind until about the third day, when you decided you really couldn't find much wrong with the guy. Nothing abnormal, unless one counted his obvious internet addiction and his odd dual-colored eyes (which you didn't think were attractive, nope, not at all!). In fact, he seemed like the most normal out of your group of friends.

He rarely showed much emotion past mild versions of the feelings that you could never hide. While you had fury, he had irritation. While you had glee, he displayed only contentment. Your anguish was over the top in comparison to his disappointment.

An employee of the cinemaplex stepped out from the theater you had been waiting to enter and suddenly you realized you had spent a solid half hour thinking about your new roommate. Shaking your head and praying there was no hint of a blush on your skin, you quickly made your way into the depths of the theater.

About 200 minutes later, you wiped your misty eyes for the last time and exited the theater, pocketing the ridiculous glasses that had prompted your equally-ridiculous thoughts about the guy with the eyes that matched their odd colors. You scolded yourself internally when you found your thoughts drifting back to him on your way to your car. You were a terrible driver as it was; you didn't need any distractions on the road, or on your mind.

Upon arriving home, you settled immediately into your normal routine: toe off shoes, shrug off jacket, flop on the couch, and watch a movie. It was quiet in the apartment, no sound or light coming from Captor's room, so you assumed he was out somewhere, probably at his favorite bar down the street. Fortunately, he never came home overly drunk, so you had no problems with his outings.

You were about half an hour into _50 First Dates_ when there came the jingling of keys at the door. Sollux stepped in a moment later, and you turned to greet him from your spot on the couch, only to view the most extreme expression on his face you'd ever seen: a deep scowl. He didn't even glance at you, instead storming down the hall to his room and slamming the door behind him.

You paused, hand halfway up to give your now absent roommate a wave, then turned back to your movie; even if Captor was actually truly upset, it wouldn't do any good to confront him about it until he had cooled down.

One romantic comedy later, you were at his door, knocking in your normal fashion: forcefully. The door opened with a creak (you really needed to talk to the landlord about that) and revealed Sollux's bicolored eyes for an instant before they flashed away as he retreated back to his computer, muttering a blunt "what" on his way.

Eyebrows raised at his unusually straightforward response, you answered in kind, "What the fuck happened to make you so emotional?"

He immediately slumped forward, his long, normally active fingers at rest over his keyboard, "I don't want to talk about it."

As a firm believer in the power of talking things out, you crossed your arms and stared at the side of his head until a few minutes later, when he finally sighed and started talking.

"Look, I ran into somebody I didn't really want to see at the bar. Somebody I used to be kind of close to."

You narrowed your eyes, ready to hear the common my-ex-is-a-total-douchebag speech, but his next words took you by surprise.

"When I was younger, I hated myself."

He sighed again and you reeled to recover from the shock.

"I mean, I still kind of do, but that's beside the point. The person I saw tonight is my ex-girlfriend, though I never really wanted to be in a relationship with her."

You nodded and he turned to you, eyes on the ground as he told you about the archaeology major he had met at the very same bar. How she had seemed genuinely concerned for his wellbeing. How she had spent night after night talking him down from one sort of ledge of another. How she had helped him organize all of his pill bottles by color so that he wouldn't be tempted to mix them and abuse them.

How she had fallen in love with him.

How he had never loved her the same way.

They ended up dating, after all; Sollux had felt obligated to repay her for her time. Eventually, she had gotten 'fed up' with his 'half-assed attitude' and she had swept off in the night, taking all of her belongings with her.

"I hadn't seen her in three years until tonight."

The next few moments were spent in silence as you tried to process all of this information. He simply sat back in his ergonomic chair, eyes closed, expression blank once again.

You analyze your thoughts for a second and came up with this conclusion: you were _furious_. What had this guy done to deserve any of this?!

"You know what's funny?"

You couldn't think of a response to his question because you were too busy being _abso-fucking-lutely pissed and oh my god you would've gone through all of it if he didn't have to—_

"She wanted to get back together. She practically begged."

"She _what?!"_

He silenced you with a look, his eyes sad, pleading, and bitter, though you could've sworn there was something happier in their depths.

"I flat out said no."

"Well, no fucking kidding, after what she did!"

"That's not why I said no."

You blinked after he cut you off, then blinked again as he frowned again. You crept closer to reach out and pat his arm comfortingly or _something_, but his hand caught yours halfway. You swallowed dryly and looked up to him, amber eyes meeting red-and-blue,

"Then why'd you say no?"

His voice came quietly as he came closer, and for a split second you swear you saw him smile for once before his lips were on yours,

"I said no because I had fallen in love with the guy who _actually cared."_

Your eyes went wide and you probably had the craziest blush on your face, but you quickly eased into him, smiles on both your faces, hands slowly working their ways to each other's hair. You suddenly remembered something, and pulled away from him slightly, just enough to see his confused expression before you reached into your pocket and reached up to carefully place the cheap 3D glasses over his eyes after pulling away his actual glasses.

"Uh, not to be rude or anything, but why, kk?"

"Because I fell in love with the guy with eyes like them."


End file.
